Bye Bye Billy

Against my better judgment, I'd edited out previous entries dealing with the minor chaos surrounding the character of Billy. In a nutshell, about two weeks ago, the young man who was playing Billy, Jeffrey Higashi, disappeared for several rehearsals, only to reappear a few days later as though nothing had happened. Then, again, this past Saturday, he did not show up for the "kids" rehearsal, and also missed rehearsal last night.

So we made the call last night to remove Jeffrey from the cast. Lines and blocking were reassigned to the very committed Louis Rivera to incorporate into his character. It's unfortunate that we weren't able to reach an arrangement that would have allowed him to continue, but to miss this many rehearsals with little or no excuse is, well, inexcusable.

Regardless, rehearsal went very well again last night. Notes are getting shorter and shorter, and I'm offering the actors a chance to flesh out their characters a bit more, sometimes with mixed results. I am typically a hard line script hound, insisting that the actors recite the lines as written, but the style of the show REQUIRES a bit more fleshing out in some cases. For instance, I offered last night that the gifts that were mentioned in one scene could be updated to more modern items. One cast member liked the idea and another was concerned that perhaps too much was being introduced too late in the process, and I accept that as valued feedback. I was quick to redefine the statement as a suggestion rather than a hard and fast piece of direction. Coincidentally, the actor who embraced the suggestion has made the greatest strides in developing their improvisational skills, and the one who questioned it is polished enough in their performance NOT to need it. At this point, I'm fine with actors "cherry picking" my suggestions, as the show is in EXCEPTIONALLY good shape.

I'll spend some time at lunch today cutting wood for the remaining platform. Hopefully I can get it done and installed with the flats tonight after rehearsal.

- Sean